Just wanted to update this post: Our 9 ducklings are 55 days old. What an adventure this has been! We have had so much fun watching them grow, and my son has been journaling almost daily (had to sort of bribe him for that, but once he started, he kind of got into it - and someday I think his notes may be useful...) Sample entries: 5/11/11 Today the ducklings did a new morning exercise. This morning exersize was flapping their very tiny wings and running up the concrete by the pool. 5/17/11 I was watching the ducklings up close today and when I stood up, as usual the ducklings ran away except for one. That duckling fell on it's back and tried to get up. It couldn't because its legs and wings didn't help. So the duckling started peeping very loudly. Then it finally rolled over and ran away. 5/27/11 Today I got home from Outdoor Ed. I can see a big difference in the ducklings. When you look at one, you almost think you are looking at the mama since they're sooo big. ------------------------------- For the last several weeks, we've been treated to 2 daily water shows, one in mid-morning and one in mid-afternoon. During these shows, they all simultaneously go into rapid-swim mode where they actually walk on water, then switch to rapid-dive mode where they swim straight to the bottom of the pool and hover around down there for a 5-10 seconds before surfacing w/ a plop. To see all 9 do this at once is hysterical. They are practicing flying several times a day and it's so cute. They will flap their wings while sort of galloping along. Some are getting about an inch of air, but they have to really work for it. Mama still leaves a few times each day, and as always, they don't like it. They quack (and they're much louder than they used to be, unfortunately) when she's gone...but she always comes back within a few minutes of leaving. It has been, and is, a LOT of work. I don't ever want to do this again! That said, I'm not sorry they chose our home because it's been such a learning experience - I just don't want to go through it again. If I see any of them in our yard once this group has migrated, I will NOT encourage them to hang around (whereas before I just let them visit since it was always a short visit). I am reducing their food now, in an effort to have them forage more...which they are doing. I have almost no flowers left in my backyard and there is MUD where there never was before! We also haven't been able to use our pool since they were born, so we are really looking forward to their departure (as much as we will miss those daily shows). Once I know they can fly, I will not put food out for them, but for now, I feel the ducklings still need some since they can't fly. I'm hopeful though that if there is less and less, they will fly sooner. Does anyone have any experience with mallard ducklings learning to fly? I had thought they could fly between 50-60 days, but they don't look like they'll be taking off within the next few days, so mine may be here longer. I'm really ready for them to see the world though, so any advice is appreciated. A few pictures of the last 8 weeks: How they slept the first night: A family outing: They liked to hang out on the wall between the jacuzzi and cool dip: You can see how they're growing: Today, they're all the same size!

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....

We have helped the bluebirds for yrs providing them w/ boxes. We’ve noticed that younger birds will lay usually 3 eggs & older ones lay 4-5 eggs. This spring we had a pair lay 5 eggs & from past experience, probably because of the size of the box, that @ least one will either die from suffocation or from being @ the bottom too much & not get enough food. When we’ve had only 3 eggs, everyone was healthy. We chose to discard 2 of the five eggs so everyone would make it. Everything seemed to be going fine until one morning a coon must have tried getting into the box. The whole nest was packed tight into the opening. I pulled the nest out & found the new born babies in the bottom of the box. I tried repairing the nest & putting the babies back in, but I think they had been hurt too much when the coon was in there. We even have a predator guard on the entrance hole, but didn’t phase him. The parents seemed to try for a few days, but realized their babies were dead. I decided to take everything out & just leave the clean shavings in the bottom, hoping they’d start a new family. I always clean everthing out anyway after the babies have fled the nest. Well, it seemed like that’s what was going to happen. I saw the male & female on the top of the box seeming happy. We checked this morning thinking we’d find a new nest being built, but no. She laid 2 eggs in the bottom of the box on the sawdust. I’ve never seen this before & we’ve been doing this for 40 yrs.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a cat can not reach into a nest box, correct? Would it be killing them after they have fledged? I have a nesting question of my own. The bluebirds have done fairly well in my yard. I put up nest boxes last year and had one successful hatching of 3 babies and one unsuccessful hatching - the eggs were tossed out onto the ground. This year I had one nest formed with all 3 eggs tossed onto the ground. I suspected house sparrows and have since "tamed" them. The second nest was successful with 2 hatchlings fledged and flew away (I got to see it!). Now I have a 3rd nest with 4 eggs in it, but the mom and dad are nowhere to be found. The same thing happened with the second nest - for whatever reason the mom or dad do not sit on the nest or really spend much time at all around the nest until the eggs hatch, then they are very attentive. With the current nest, they have completely disappeared since the last egg was laid. I found one eggshell on the other side of my yard, but 4 are still in there. I believe they will hatch on their own because the weather is quite warm and the previous nest's eggs hatched with almost no roosting by the mom or dad. Is this behavior normal? I always thought the mom would sit on the eggs until they hatched? It has been about 2 weeks since the last egg was laid so they are probably going to hatch soon but if the parents don't show up is there anything I can do for the babies?